As the Oxford English Dictionary heralds in new words, they’ve ousted some dated terms — including the apparently beloved “cassette tape”.
When the OED announced last week that they were adding new words such as “sexting” and “woot” to their list of definitions, they also noted that they were retiring words that were no longer in fashion. And while many weren’t particularly sad to see words like “brabble” or “growlery” go, there are a certain few who are protesting the loss of “cassette tape.”
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The Huffington Post reports that Bucks Burnett, a music historian who owns the Eight Track Museum, is particularly aggrieved by the change and is boycotting the OED out of protest. “I’m going to ban the Oxford Dictionary from the museum. I have a copy and I’m going to recycle it,” he said. “This decision to remove the word was made inside a Starbucks by 20-something editors on their lunch break.”
Burnett might be a little extreme in his reaction, but perhaps the editors of the OED were a little hasty on axing cassette tapes. While NewsFeed loves the addition of words such as “woot” into the OED, we are also a little dismayed at the idea of “cassette tape” being retired, and it’s not just because we’re children of the ’80s who can’t let go of the past. After all, while no one really says “brabble” anymore, people definitely still reference cassettes since they’re not only still being sold, but also still being made.
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